What's My Name?
by Hiraku Abridged
Summary: Jeremie fell asleep and wakes up in a wheat field with most of his memory erased. He doesn't know what his name is or what he's doing there, and he's even forgotten Lyoko! Now, Xana has split in half and his good side merged with Jer...what's happening?
1. REALLY SHORT INTRO

I was asleep...asleep for a long time. That's the last thing I remember...was being asleep.  
...  
I awoke in a field where the grass was around me, encircling my body. I didn't know where I was. Or who I was, for that matter. It was so strange; to be alive, yet not know who you were. I guess I was like that.

Heaving myself from my miserable position, I arise from my makeshift…bed, I guess. Looking around, I rub my hand. It had a strangely-shaped…scar on it. I guess I could call it that.

"Oomph. My head hurts like crazy." I rub it, feeling the many burrs stuck in my blonde hair. "Where am I? What am I doing here? And…and…" I look down at myself. "Who am I? What's my name?" I look down at myself. Something catches my eye, sticking out of my pocket.

I drag a piece of white paper out of my pocket. On it were some words I didn't understand, but it was signed 'Jeremie.'

Was that my name?


	2. What is this?

I scroll the note, not able to read anything else. It's like the words had been dropped from my mind...How was that even possible? My brain scrambles frantically, confronted with this piece of evidence. Why...what...what was wrong with me? Something deep within my mind was telling me that something was amiss, but it-and I-we weren't sure.

I stagger to my feet and almost instantly fall back down. My...my leg. It was caught in a strange device. Its teeth were deeply embedded into my flesh. My right hand, the one with the scar, reaches for a stick on its own. Poking it between the fangs of the monster device, I slowly ease my battered leg out. "Ouch!" The rows of teeth had scored my flesh, leaving trails of a red liquid. I wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to come from within my own body.

Confronted with this strange phenomenon, I panic, and run from the red liquid. I run for what seems like a very long time, before becoming tired again. My chest heaves in and out, as I look around, searching for that red liquid. It appeared to be gone for now.

I then notice my surroundings. Where was I? There were lots of trees around me, and green wheat around my ankles. Something shiny is on the ground near my injured leg. I bend down to see what it is, but I'm not entirely sure.

Suddenly exhausted, I lie down and fall asleep again, hoping that this time I would not forget any more.


	3. Aelita and XA

…

…

Um...

Wake up, please!

Jeremie…

Jeremie, wake up!

_Wake up…!_

I open my eyes to stare a pink-haired girl in the face. "Jeremie! Wha…what are you doing out here?!" she demands. I give her a questioning look.

"Who...Jeremie?" I ask. "Who's that?" She gives me a look that describes confusion in some way, then she relaxes. "Aw, you're just playing with me, Jeremie." "I'm serious. Who are you, and who am I?" I am getting tired of repeating myself. "You...you don't remember me?" She tears up at this. I shake my head no.

"I'm drawing a...a...what do you call it? A nothing?" "You mean you're drawing a blank." A loud ringing fills my ears. Terrified, I leap away and cower behind a tree. The girl pulls something out of her pocket and begins to speak into it. "Yeah, I found Jeremie, but there's something wrong with him. He doesn't remember me, or his name, or anything." She pauses. "Lyoko? I'll ask him."

"Jeremie, do you remember Lyoko?" she asks, turning to me. I think hard, trying to pull the answer out of my memories, but nothing comes. Only fragments of a certain sign are shown to me. Suddenly, a large lab is revealed to my weary brain. I am sitting in a gigantic chair in front of a big screen. I can't remember what it is called. There's another pink-haired girl. She looks dead, but she opens her eyes and looks at me in the memory. "Who...who are you? Where...am I?" she asks me, a deeply confused look in her eyes.

I make a connection between the two-those girls were one and the same. But...I still don't know her name... "Um. Do you have anything to do with it?" I ask carefully. A smile stretches across her face. "He knows that I have something to do with it..." But her smile fades. "Yet, he doesn't seem to remember anything else." Pause. "Ok. I'll bring him back with me. Ok. Bye." She turns the thing off and sticks it in her pocket.

"I...is it going to make that sound again?" She shakes her head no. "No. I promise." "Who are you...can you tell me your name?" I question, warily walking over to her side. The girl nods. "My name is Aelita."

Her name triggers a reaction in my mind. A memory pops up, showing the girl Aelita in the bottom of a cylinder-like device, curled up. She opens her eyes and looks around. Another memory, of her in a shiny room and her hand on a black switch. Yet another memory, of her and me...I was walking her someplace. "Ae...lita..." I repeat, enthralled. "I…I…sorta remember. But not all the way."

"And you…your name is Jeremie." Aelita smiles warmly. Another reaction in my mind…the scar on my hand throbs, as does my overheated mind. I glance at it, only receiving the first two letters of its symbol. X…and A. X and A? What were these two letters? For some reason, it made me shudder. There was something about that scar on my hand that got me nervous.


	4. InXANAty?

"Uhhhh...Aelita!" I cry, as we begin to exit the forest. "What does X and A mean?" She looks at me, now scared. "X and A? That doesn't really mean anything..." Oh. I show her my hand. "Cause I think it has something to do with this scar on my hand."

Aelita gasps. "Let me see!" She grabs for my hand and gazes at the marking on my skin. Her eyes widen. "This is bad. This is very, very, bad." "What? What's bad?" I ask, now becoming...well...it was weird. I felt like there was something jumping around in my stomach. She doesn't speak.

Instead, Aelita yanks me out of the forest to a big rock. It's polished white and has some chinks in it. "Jeremie, this is our school." I pause for a moment. "What's a school?" She sighs heavily. "I'll explain later. We need to gather everyone else." "Wait; there are other people here too?" I question, still not understanding.

She drags me into an opening in the rock, and we begin to climb stairs. Another throbbing sensation begins in my head, as I get another memory. Many, many people in these halls, running from something...I couldn't make it out. What were those...things? They appeared to be little roaches, except they were yellow and could shoot people.

A word pops up in my head- _"Kankrelats. Those are Kankrelats."_ "Huh? Who are you?" I ask, in my mind. _"Never mind that. That girl...she is your enemy."_ "She is? But...why? She's nice to me..." _"She's only nice because she has to be. As soon as she gets you alone again, you are doomed!"  
_  
Instantly I tear away from Aelita. "Wha-Jeremie! Come back!" Aelita cries, running after me. _"Run! GO!"_ the voice in my head commands. "I'm running, I'm running!" I cry, sprinting past unsuspecting people. _"Turn left!"_ the voice yells. I do so and scale the stairs. _"Now go straight!"_ I slam into a brown-haired kid wearing mostly green.

"Jeremie! What's wrong?" he asks. "Aelita! She-she's after me!" I cry, panting. _"No! He's an enemy, too!"_ the voice screams at me. "I...Ok! I'm running!" I yell, bolting for my life again. "Jeremie! Wait!" The kid sighs. "I hoped I never had to show anyone my powers, but...SUPER-SPRINT!" he cries.

In an instant, that kid is in front of me. I skid to a stop as Aelita comes up from behind me. "No...Please, don't hurt me..." I whimper, sinking to my knees. "Jeremie, there's something wrong with you, and we want to help," Aelita pants. "You can't help! You only want to kill me! The little voice in my head said so!"

"Wait. 'Little voice in my head?' " Aelita repeats, confused. Her gaze darts to my right hand, the one with the scar. The other kid gives her a knowing glance as I begin to worry, still panting and now...I couldn't focus very well anymore.

Two other kids surround me, as I fall asleep again.


	5. Amnesiac?

My eyes open again after a long while. I felt…weird, invaded, something like that. Like someone else was in me. I look down at my hand and eye the scar on it. It was changing colors from light red to black. It was becoming a mark, branded into my hand.

My eyes settle on the boy in front of me. The same brown-haired kid with green clothing is lying there, very still. His sides are heaving. _"Well? Are you going to finish him off?" _asks the voice in my head. I jump. "Wha-what?" I stammer. _"Kill him."_

"Why?" I ask. "Why kill him?" _"BECAUSE!" _the voice booms. _"HE IS YOUR ENEMY! GET RID OF HIM AND NOBODY WILL DARE MESS WITH YOU!!" _My eyes narrow. "I'll do what I want with him!" I spit crossly, bending down to pick up the boy. He looks up at me.

"Please...no more..." the boy begs, his face a lighter tone than before. I note that he's red all over. I shiver inwardly, but run out of the big wheat field to the 'school.' "Jeremie...the infirmary...please..." he stammers. "Before Xana gets you..." "Xana? Who the heck is Xana?" I demand, but the boy is asleep now, sides still heaving.

I stumble and fall to the ground, ripping open my shoulder on a steel barb. The red stuff comes out freely. People scream and run as I try to get to my feet, but I fall once more. Aelita pushes her way through the crowd. I look up at her. "Aelita...help me..." I pant. "Please...don't kill me..."

"Odd! Yumi!" she calls. Two other students, the ones I saw before I passed out, run to us. "Hurry! Ulrich and Jeremie have to get to the infirmary!" she cries. The boy winces. "Geez, Jeremie, what'd you **do**?!" "There's no time!" the other girl yells at him. "We have to get them there, now! Before they bleed to death!"

I struggle to my feet, dimly aware of the stabbing feeling in my shoulder. The girl supports me, looking grim. We make slow progress through the halls and the big empty space that kids call a 'courtyard.' "Jeremie...don't close your eyes...don't fall asleep...you can't...just keep your mind on anything else..."

"_YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT!" _the voice yells at me. "Are you Xana?" I ask, wary of its answer. It sighs a bit. _"I guess you could say that I'm Xana." _"Why are you in my head?!" I demand. _"Because I want to help you. I'm only here for that." _"That boy said...we had to hurry, before you got me. What does he mean by that?" _"He's an enemy, remember? He doesn't want me to speak to you."_

"Are you talking to yourself?" asks the girl, as we round another corner. "Uhhhh...no," I reply. "I'm talking to a voice in my head that calls itself Xana." "XANA?!" she cries. "Of all things, it's **XANA** that's in your head?!" I nod. "Is that a problem?" "DEFINITELY!" she cries, pushing open a door.

A lady in white looks at me and glances at that hurt boy who is on a cot. "We need to call an ambulance." She escorts me to a white bed. "You just rest there for a moment." She turns to the girl. "Thank you, Yumi. Odd already left. What happened to these two?" "Well, uh...Ulrich got into a fight with another student, and Jeremie fell onto a garden stake."

She makes this 'tsk' noise at me and sighs, picking up one of those scary noise-makers. I cover my ears as she pokes at some buttons on it, but the ringing never comes. "We need an ambulance for two Kadic students...one of them is unconscious and the other is bleeding profusely...he may have a torn ligament...uh huh...ok...I understand. Uh huh. Bye." She turns it off as I lie back against a pillow and wait.

A loud wailing noise makes me fall out of my cot. I guess I had dozed off for awhile. There was a white patch of cloth over my wound, and the other boy was still asleep. "Wha...what's going on?!" I demand. The nurse smiles at me. "It's just the ambulance siren, Jeremie. Nothing serious." "What's that boy's name?" I ask, pointing at him.

"It's Ulrich. Don't you remember?" "No," I answer honestly. Someone else also dressed in white runs in. "These the kids you phoned about?" "Yes," she answers. "He's still unconscious even after twenty moments. The other one seems to also be suffering from retrograde amnesia, or perhaps even partial global amnesia." The man seems stunned. "Global?"

"Perhaps."


	6. Jeremie the Murderer

The man wheels in a mobile cot and tells me to get on it. "Do I?" I ask the voice in my head. _"Yeah. Get on_ _and keep quiet."_ I nod and start to the cot, but the man stops me.

"Is he also schizophrenic?" the man asks the nurse. "Am I?" I ask myself. _"Aren't you talking to me? Yes, you're schizophrenic," _Xana sighs. "Yeah, I'm scyzophrenzic," I report happily, trying to get onto that cot like they told me. Both the nurse and the man share a weird glance at each other as I scramble up on the cot.

"OW!" Forgetting my hurt shoulder, I had strained it. I fall to the floor and hit my head really hard. _"Ouch..."_ both me and Xana moan. "Wha...? Who was that?!" the nurse demands, as the man sets me onto the snowy white sheet. (Ulrich, throughout all this, is still asleep. Amazing!)

"Please! You need to take them both to the hospital before their injuries get any worse!" the nurse cries. I begin to lose sight. "What's happening to me?!" I cry, scared. _"Trust me, kid..." _Xana gasps out, his voice louder than before, "_you don't want to know." _Black rage consumes me, eating away at my heart...a hatred so deep it went beyond reason... "Geh?!" I cry, trying to move. But I can't.

My body begins to move on its own. I try to scream, cry, let them know there's something wrong with me, but...I...can't! The door opens and I hear someone gasp. "Jeremie!" she cries. I instantly recognize the voice and manage to scream one more sentence, both in my voice and in Xana's voice as well.

"YUMI, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!"

I lose myself in the darkness.

...  
...  
...

Am I alive? A-am I ok?

I wake up in a big room, strapped down to another white cot. "E-excuse me..." I stammer. "Why can't I move?" "You were possessed," she explains. "Yumi!" I cry. She doesn't look at me.

"Jeremie..."

"Yeah?"

"You...you killed Ulrich!" she bursts out, twin globes of water running down her face. "YOU KILLED ULRICH!!" Her words echo in my mind.

"WHAT?!!!!" I scream.


	7. Odd or Ulrich?

"N-" Yumi slaps her hand over my mouth. "Mmph! MMPH!" I grunt, enthralled. People look at me weird as Xana shouts, _"DAMMIT."_ "Eh?" I mumble, as my eyes catch a white bubble. It floats over us, and a loud roaring sound echoes in my ears. "Gah! GYAH!!!" I scream, unable to see again.

I open my eyes to see myself back at the wheat field. Ulrich's right next to me, pale. His eyes are glassy, and he's all floppy. "Uh, Ulrich? Are...are you ok?" No sound. "Ulrich?!" Still no sound. He isn't moving...isn't breathing...His eyes stare blankly at me.

"Ulrich! Answer me!" He refuses to answer. I grab his hand. "WAKE UP! STOP FOOLING WITH ME!!!" Nothing. His hand is icy cold, as is my heart. Water streams from my eyes as I shake him. "Please! Wake up! Wake up!" Nothing. The agonizing silence pierces me like the pointy object which skewered me earlier.

A hand takes my shoulder. "Jeremie...it wasn't your fault." I look up to see a blonde-haired kid who seems to like purple. "Yes! Yes, it was! I could've prevented this but I didn't!" "Jeremie! Listen to me!" he yells. I fall back, startled.

"It was **NOT** your fault! You did **ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!** It was Xana; he's in your mind! He can **CONTROL** your **BODY** at **WILL!!** **IT WAS XANA THAT SO BRUTALLY MURDERED OUR BEST FRIEND!!!!"** He also has water running down his face. "Listen, Jeremie. We can stop Xana, but only if you cooperate while he's asleep."

"Xana sleeps?" I question, curious. "Yeah, he sleeps. So...come with me, and...we'll...Hey! Are you coming?" I have a determined frown on my face. "No. I...I don't want to hurt you. See how he ended up?" I scowl at him. "I don't care. You may not remember me, Jeremie, but it's your friend, Odd."

I fall back, reeling from a memory flash. He places a hand on my shoulder as I relive a moment of the past. Me...and Odd...we were in a lab...and there was this lady...an aura of evil radiated from her...we were frightened, afraid we were going to die, but since we're still here, we mustn't have.

I come back to the present, scrunched over in hot pain. Odd looks at me. "See? We've faced danger before, and we came out of it." Another twinge of pain flows through me like the waves of a wind over the wheat field. Another memory.

Me...I was attacking Odd...I was helpless in my own stead, someone else controlling my body, controlling my movements, my thoughts...it was a terrible feeling to have. It was as if I wasn't even me anymore...as if I didn't exist. I was trapped within my own body. I murmur the name...Xana...

"Hey, a...are you ok?" I snap out of my trance and look around, startled. "Uh...I...I think I'll be." "See?" His eyes are kind. "We've been through something like this before. We can handle it. I swear to the heavens above, to the hell below, that we will find a cure for you. I promise." A weak smile crosses my face, but it fades as I look at Ulrich.

"Is...is he...gone?" Odd sighs. "Yes. He's gone...but not completely gone." Odd's face goes blank for a few seconds. "Jeremie, is that...is that you?" asks another voice. "U...ULRICH?!" I yell, startled.

Odd makes a face. "Ewwwww…you're scaring me!" I yell at him. "Gah…Being in Odd's body makes me feel SO weird." "But why are you there?!" I demand, shocked. The boy heaves a sigh. "I…At the time of my death, Odd was next to me. I…melded with him…I entered his body, and now his situation and yours are much alike.

"But me, I am not trying to bring harm to you. You shouldn't trust Xana, he's evil. He'll say and do anything to get you to believe him. You've got to fight, Jeremie, you've got to fight him!"


	8. Visions and Policemen

I...I'm confused. "Ulrich...ca...can you show me how you died?" He places a hand on my shoulder. "I just need to stimulate it is all." Odd gently presses down. Something clicks in my mind, and I begin to have another vision.  
---  
Yumi bolts out of the room, with me right after. **I** wasn't really after her-it was Xana chasing Yumi down the halls, leering maliciously. My eyes are blank, devoid of the usual possession alert. Instead, the sign on my hand is bright red-the color of oxygen-rich 'blood'.

Ulrich stumbles out of the nurse's room and freezes, seeing me. "Ulrich! Run!" Yumi screams, taking off in the opposite direction. I give chase to the weaker 'prey,' Ulrich, who runs. Unable to achieve his required strength for 'Super-Sprint,' and in consequence unable to 'Triplicate,' all he can do is hide.

Ulrich runs down the halls and hides in a room, specifically a 'closet.' The poor target tries to keep from panting. 'Blood' trickles down his back from the deep gash that I left him as a 'souvenir' the last time we had met. Sweat floods down his arms and drips from his face. The cold anxiety of 'waiting' presses against Ulrich's chest.

I peer in, looking about, eyes narrowed. My hand goes to the ground, and I pause, closing my eyes. Ulrich holds his breath, hoping not to be discovered...it would take a 'miracle,' though, and luck detested the poor abhorred boy.

"_I know you're here, Ulrich." _The words strike terror into his heart. _"I can feel your heartbeat...I can hear you straining to hold your breath...are you not clearly aware that you also have a trail of 'blood' following you?" _Ulrich's heart thumps wildly as he dislodges the wooden rack in the 'closet.'

"_I am not willing to spare any captives. I am not willing to let you live. I only wish to see you at the ground, heaving your last breath..."_ The shadow gets closer...the footsteps are louder...Ulrich kicks open the door and 'clouts' me full on the head. The possessed being drops to the ground, stunned, as my 'prey' scrams.

Dripping a trail of bright red liquid, Ulrich runs smack into Odd. "Odd!" "Ulrich, who's after you?" "Jeremie. He's possessed..." "Come on, let's get going into the forest and wait out the possession." Odd takes Ulrich by the arm and helps him out of the school.

"Come on! We gotta get out of here!" Ulrich lags behind. Hot pain suddenly slashes through his right arm, 'blood' dripping down his skin. _"Missed me?" _hisses my voice. "Ulrich, go!" Odd yells. The 'prey' shakes his head. "I...I can't...move..."

Ulrich was too weak to do anything, his body shuddering with every gasp, eyes dim and unable to focus. Ulrich's rag-doll body reels and falls to the ground, 'blood' staining the stalks of wheat from which I had arisen. "Ulrich! No!" Odd screams, as I smack him aside.

Ulrich closes his eyes, waiting...waiting for the death blow. Suddenly his heart beats irregularly, a tingle slicing its way through his body, rupturing his heart, splitting his veins...he drops off into the darkness, unable to see now...

I drop to my knees, devoid of all power...no trace of possession. The mark on my hand was now charcoal black. I fall forward, as if asleep, eyes closed.

"Ulrich..." Odd crawls over to him. "Ulrich..." The misty eyes peer back at Odd. His hand finds Odd's own...and grasps it gently. Something like an electric shock wells up Odd's arm and knocks him back, stunned.

"Ulrich!" he yells, running over to the fallen boy. "Ulrich, no!" No response. Ulrich's eyes are glassy now, unable to see anything. He was limp all over, sides refusing to move anymore.

"Oh...Ulrich..." Odd's eyes drip with water. "Ulrich...no..." The vision suddenly cuts off.  
---  
"I...I did that?" Odd glares at me. "NO! YOU DIDN'T!" he yells. "Jeremie, you're a good person! Take our word for it!"

My ears catch a crunching sound. "Wha-who?" I mutter. Odd looks utterly frightened. "It's the police!" he yells. "And Jeremie! You got my 'blood' on your clothing!"

"HOLD IT!" yells a voice. I get up and run into the woods, Odd behind me.

------  
Cliffie! Haha! I've decided to go ahead and add previews, neh?  
Next chapter:  
I look up and eye the floating being above me. "Who are you and why are you following me?"

She smirks. "My name is Atilea and I'm your guardian angel."


	9. Angel From Above

We run into the wheat field, deeper and deeper, the sound of vegetation being crushed underneath growing louder and louder. "Please..." I pant. "Help me..." A new will takes hold of me as I steel myself to run faster...faster!

Odd runs faster, too, panting hard. Loud bursts of sound hurt my ears. "They're shooting at us, Jeremie!" screams Ulrich's voice. "We have to lose them in the factory! Follow me!" I pitch forward, gasping for breath, as Odd takes the lead.

He skids to a stop and opens a hole in the ground. I slow down and wait for him to climb down, my curiosity peaking. "Jeremie, hurry up!" complains Odd's voice. I do so, scrambling down.

We stumble through the tunnel and get to a ladder. Odd climbs it, looking down at me. "We're almost there, Jeremie!" Another shooting sound comes from far away. "Hurry up! They're coming this way!" I ascend the ladder frantically, scared to face the shooting.

Both of us run into a factory. Odd skids to a stop and I slam into him, making both of us fall from a platform. I land on my back, the wind knocked out of me. Odd gets up, puffing. "We'd better split ways, Jer." He takes off in one direction as I go the other.

Walking through the rooms, I begin to stumble. A voice seems to speak to me, one that is different from Xana. "Jeremie...you have come at last..." I look around, confused. "Hello? Is there someone there?" My eyes dart down.

"Up here!" I look up and eye the floating being above me. "Who are you and why are you following me?" She smirks. "My name is Atilea and I'm your guardian angel." "What's that?" She laughs. "Oh, of course! I just got assigned to you! You don't know who I am!" "Well...can you tell me?"

"A guardian angel is given to someone who is truly in need of help. You, Jeremie, you need my help. It is destined for this to happen. I am here to help you get your life back on track." "But...how?" I stammer, shocked. "It will be revealed in time."

"I hear footsteps." "You must run, Jeremie! Run for your very life! Being a new guardian angel, I only help you out when possible, and right now I am drained. Run!" The girl disappears as I run for my very life.

I run into a machine room and pause, gasping for breath, leaning against a worn wall. "FREEZE!" yells a man. I don't dare to move, staring at the man, out of breath. He has the shooter in his hand, aimed at me.

"Someone, please help me!" I wail.

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Ha! Another cliffe.  
Here's a preview:  
"But he's dead, right?" Yumi shakes her head. "Actually, Ulrich's wandering around outside." Odd's expression turns to horrified. "WHAT?!" yells Ulrich's voice, as Odd's body dashes out. "But..." I follow, panting hard.


	10. Screaming In Pain

Xana speaks up. "Do you need help?" I nod, barely, to keep that man from shooting me. "Please, anything!" A strange feeling takes hold of my body, the same one from earlier. Atilea watches in horror as my body tenses up, then I relax...my eyes close and I become lost in my own mind.

_Atilea's POV_

Jeremie relaxes, head bowing down, becoming limp. A long sigh echoes throughout the room as the policeman approaches him. I watch, useless in the situation. "Come on, son. We need to talk about what happened to your friend."

"**_No,"_** growls a deep voice, twisted in many ways. A blend of Xana and Jeremie, it probably was. "Come on, kid! We need to interrogate you!" **_"NO!"_** screams the voice. Jeremie grabs the man's wrist and zaps him lightly, then runs off. I take off after him, flying as fast as I can.

He glares up at me, eyes blank, yet full of malice. Jeremie's hand snakes out and grabs my arm. "Ow! Let me go!" I yell, as his nails dig into my skin. A white liquid secretes from the small cut in my arm. "I know it's you, Xana!" He stops cold.

"**_You...you aren't supposed to know...! Tell me how you know!" _**demands that same voice, from within Jer's body. "I know everything there is to know about my protégé!" I yell, yanking my arm free and examining the wound. Nothing serious, it would heal by itself.

Suddenly Jeremie slumps to his knees and closes his eyes. A small wisp of black leaves his body and floats off into the air, where it disappears. "Jeremie, are you ok?" I ask, gliding down and landing on the ground. His eyes open and blink a few times. "What happened?"

"Xana saved you, Jeremie," I whisper, pulling him to his feet. "We have to find Odd and Ulrich, ok?" He nods, looking slightly confused, as if in a stupor. "Jeremie?" I wave a hand in front of his face. "Jeremie?" "Huh?" Glasses go off and he rubs his eyes. "Yeah, ok..."

_Jeremie's POV_

We walk through the factory, looking for Odd and Ulrich. My head hurts, pounding hard, unrelenting. "Odd, are you here?" Atilea calls. "Odd? Ulrich?" I follow suit. "Hello, are you guys here?"

"There you are!" yells Odd's voice, as he runs over to us. I gasp as Atilea looks startled. "What? What is it?" I point to a piece of reflecting light. Odd looks in it. His hair is getting a little darker, and he's gotten a little smaller. "Odd...you're taking on Ulrich's characteristics!" Atilea yells.

"Who was that?!" demands Odd, turning around. Atilea waves before coming up from behind me, her dusky wings flapping. "My name is Atilea, I'm Jeremie's guardian angel." She flicks her thumb in my general direction. "We'd better get out of here."

We walk through that field, Ulrich's body missing from its 'grave' or whatever that is. "He may be at the morgue," Atilea sighs. Odd goes blank for a second. "No. Something is wrong-very wrong!" growls Ulrich's voice, as we go to that school thing and into a big room.

"Yumi! Do you know where Ulrich is?" "Uh, no..." she mumbles. "But he's dead, right?" Yumi shakes her head. "Actually, Ulrich's wandering around outside." Odd's expression turns to horrified. "WHAT?!" yells Ulrich's voice, as Odd's body dashes out. "But..." I follow, panting hard. "It has to be Xana!"

"It's not me!" yells a voice, coming from within my body. Odd stops and turns, shocked. "Jeremie...you-?" asks Ulrich, eyes wide. "No, Xana, idiot!" the voice hisses. "You're right. Something is very wrong. I cannot comprehend it, but something is out of the ordinary."

There's Ulrich's body! Odd grabs it by the wrist and yanks it backwards. "Wait a sec!" Xana yells at them. It bites Odd on the hand. "Ouch! Oh no!" yell both Odd and Ulrich, at the same time. A change creeps over them. Xana mentally cringes in my head. "Jeremie, run. Now," he growls at me.

I run, run for my life. A split second later, Odd/Ulrich are after me, looking...different somehow. "Gah! This stinks! I'm always being chased!" I yell, a different feeling taking hold of me. "Jeremie, it's a zombie," Xana informs me plaintively. "Well, what do those do?" "They bite you, get ahold of your will. You don't want that to happen."

"You'll protect me like Atilea, won't you?" I ask. "Um..." Xana has a hint of nervousness in his voice as I ram into someone and fall down. "Aelita!" "Jeremie, what's going on?" she asks, scared. "Zombies! Odd and Ulrich are one, Aelita. Xana told me!" She gives me a strange look.

Hot pain slashes through my right arm as something bites me. I look down to see nothing there-perhaps it was gone already. "Agh!" My head goes into my hands. "Jeremie!" Aelita yelps, as I grope for her hand. "Shut up!" Xana yells at her. "Jeremie will be fine...but...I WON'T!"

"Xa-Xana...?" she stammers, frightened. I take off running, dragging Aelita with me. "Don't look ba-AAAAGH!!!!!!" screams Xana, in unknown depths of pain. "Aelita, run!" I command, another shriek of agony bursting forward from my body.

"Aelita...we need full cooperation..." Xana pants, after another round of blistering pain. His voice drips in a strange feeling...like the feeling of things jumping in your stomach. "But...how?" she asks. My left hand, as if controlled, points to my right-to the sign on it. Aelita's eyes widen. "P-possession?" she squeaks out.

"It's the only way!" I yell at her. Her hand grips mine tight for a second, then relaxes. She slows down. "Ok. Do it. But if you do anything to my body, Xana..." she growls. "OK, I UNDERSTAND!" yells his voice.

My shadow begins to move. It rips itself off the floor and engulfs Aelita, before disappearing into her chest. She jerks spasmodically, but settles down after a few seconds. _"Jeremie, we've got to get going," _commands both Aelita and Xana in my head. "Ok." We take off again, Aelita dragging me this time.

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Preview of next chapter:  
"Ulrich, knock it off!" I yell, furious. The zombie turns and glares at me. "_Why should I stop for a pitiful being like yourself?" _I stop cold. How could I keep him from hurting others?

And then an idea strikes me.


	11. But Why Me?

**Note: I was not able to use the preview from the last one: it goes in the next chapter!  
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**

"Aelita-er, I mean, Xana...where are we going?" _"The dormitory,, Jeremie." _"A what?" Aelita scowls at me. _"Not now. Your room, Jeremie." _She kicks open the 'wall' as I rush inside and lock it. A split second later she's by my side. "How'd you-"

"_Shut up, Jeremie, and lay low. Zombie Ulrich is after you."_ I puzzle over this. "Why me? Why is everyone after me? I'm just a...a little kid is all!" Aelita begins to smirk but stops. _"Shhh." _I listen closely.

There's a lot of moaning. I stoop down and look under the thing that closes. Shadows dance around the halls, and someone pulls me back. "Ouch, that hurts!" I stand to see Aelita half-transformed into a zombie as well, both eyes completely white. "AAGH! DON'T EAT ME!"

"_Jeremie, STFU. I'm ok, but I won't be if you aren't quiet." _I glance out a transparent piece of reflecting light. "What about down there, can we jump out?" Aelita also looks. _"We need salt and water, not a way to get us killed!" _"Salt water? What's that?"

Aelita gives me a sly grin. _"It releases people from being zombified." _"But...where do I find that?" _"I'll be able to pass as zombified right now, but I've got to be careful. I'll bring you the stuff, but I won't last much after that. You've got to PROMISE me that you'll give me the stuff first."_

Aelita slips out of the dorm and closes the thing. I tremble, hiding underneath the blankets on a cot in the room. What seems like hours pass by before it opens. _"Jeremie, I'm back..." _She groans in agony as I hurridly grab the glass of water from her and tear open the salt packet.

"I hope this works," I whisper, stirring the salt into the water. Aelita takes it shakily, both hands grasping the slender glass, and tips the edge to her mouth, taking a sip. "Eeewww..." Aelita makes a face, as a black wisp floats out of her shadow and disappears into my own.

"Aelita, wha...what now?" I ask, as she assumes her human form once more. Both eyes blink. "Jeremie...I...I don't know."

The thing that closes and opens is suddenly flung open. Zombie Odd starts toward us. "No! Back off!" I yell, cupping my hand and dipping it in the water. Aelita cowers behind me, scared. "Jeremie, be careful."

Odd grows closer and I fling the water at his eyes. "GAAAHHH!!! IT STINGS!!" he screams, both in his own and Ulrich's voice. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Owwwwww!" "It works!" I smile at Aelita. _"See? See? I told you!" _Xana yells at me, triumphant.

"Odd, I need to speak with Ulrich, can you switch with him?" Odd's face goes blank for a few seconds. "This is Ulrich, Jeremie what is it?"

"Ulrich, do you know where your other self is?" Aelita nods. "You may have a link with him, may be able to tap into his thoughts." "O-ok...I'll try." Odd sinks to the floor, eyes closed, a large frown of concentration on his face.

Aelita is quietly crying as I think one depressing thought:

Why does everything want me dead?

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
**End of chapter 11  
Preview of chapter twelve:

It hurt, but the pain was more distant now...and something white had left my chest.  
Xana was screaming at me, but it was distant.  
And then reality **SMACKED ME LIKE A BRICK WALL!**


	12. Jeremie Plus Xana Equals Mutant

The thing that opens and closes suddenly smacks against the wall. Two zombies rush in and restrain Ulrich and Aelita, growling strange words. A shadow falls upon us.

"_Hello, Jeremie."_

"Oh, shit," Odd mutters.

"Geez, can't we ever get any peace around here? Lord." Aelita glares at the one restraining her.

"Ulrich, knock it off!" I yell, furious. The zombie turns and glares at me. "_Why should I stop for a pitiful being like yourself?" _I stop cold. How could I keep him from hurting others?

And then an idea strikes me.

The pane of clear light.

I slowly back away as he draws closer...closer...the white eyes narrow, glaring at me...water drips down my back.

"_ENOUGH!" '_Ulrich' leaps onto me, his claws digging into my chest and pushing me to the floor. "Gah! Get off me!" I scream, struggling against the needles pricking my flesh...

His teeth tear into my skin...beyond my skin...ripping out a part of me that was not really there...a terrible screech echoes through my ears, making my bones rattle, my eyes roll into the back of my head.

It hurt, but the pain was more distant now...and something white had left my chest. Xana was screaming at me, but it was distant.

And then reality **SMACKED ME LIKE A BRICK WALL!**

"Noooooooo!!!" I howl, in agony. A black fountain spurts from the hole in my body, beginning to fix what had left. It stings, but at least I'm living. The zombies suddenly are gone.

_Atilea. She might've gotten rid of them._

"Jeremie...what just happened?" Odd stammers, still lying on the floor where he had willingly fallen. Xana answers for me. "I was afraid of this. The other Ulrich has a share of Jeremie...a piece of his..." He stops.

"Well? A piece of what?!" Aelita demands, suddenly angry.

"Precisely one-half of Jeremie's soul is missing," Xana reports, with a strange tone of voice, as if he were angry. The word 'bitter' comes to mind.

A head pops into the room via the ceiling. "Oh, thank goodness! I did say the right words!" Atilea breathes, sinking to the floor. Aelita stares. "Who are you? Why do you look like me?!" Atilea smirks. "I am your clone. Made when Jeremie here cloned you from a hair. Came to Earth and died-now I'm stuck with this job."

"STUCK in this JOB?!" That was all it took. Aelita leaps onto Atilea and the two girls begin to fight, pulling hair and scratching at each other.

"Will you guys **_KNOCK IT OFF?!!"_** I scream, Xana's voice accompanying me. "I SWEAR! Right now...there is a...crisis..." My words run together.

"Oh, hell no..." Xana murmurs. "Hell no! No! Nono! This isn't happening! No! NONONOOOO!!!"

And like that, everything suddenly blurred together and became black-and-white. I felt the terrible emptiness in my soul suddenly become filled...with black, burning hatred. It begins to show by spreading beneath my skin...a brilliant red color...

And finally, all the worry in me bursts out in a colossal scream of horror.


	13. Xana Breaks, pt 1

It's been five days ever since the big scare. I don't think I can handle another thing like that.

Xana and I...we are now one ever since. Neither of us know how, or even why. It's a problem, of course. He doesn't want to be me. Again, I do not know why. I am glad to have Xana with me, for he is protection, and he sometimes comforts me. (That last isn't even intentional. I guess it's because I'm not ever alone.)

But there's a dream I've been having. I can't remember what it is when I wake up, and all I know is that my dream is when I had my memory. When everything was ok. So everything right now is not ok.

I'm asleep and having the dream again, but suddenly everything melts into black and takes on new meanings. I'm running down a long hall, trying to reach the end, but I can never get any closer. Suddenly the hall darkens, and I can't even see where I am going.

I sit up in bed and cry out in surprise. "Who am I?! Where am I?! What am I doing here?! What just happened?!"

"You're Jeremie, you're in bed in your dorm, we fell asleep here, and we were dreaming," Xana answers, sounding like he's half-asleep still. (I don't really get that phrase.) "Oh. You had the same one as well?" I ask cautiously.

"Duh, Jeremie. I'm stuck in your head."

"Stuck? What do you mean, stuck?" I ask, rubbing my head. The room was still dark. I guess the sun thing hadn't risen yet. I eye the clock. "Does 11:28 mean the sun's gonna come up soon?" "No, it means you had a night terror."

"What's that?"

"It's when you have something worse than a nightmare, and a nightmare is a dream that scares you. Night terrors are like nightmares for adults."

"So I'm grown up now?" I ask hopefully. Xana sighs. "Jeremie, you've got a lot to learn." Well, at least I'd known that for a long time.

"So Xana, do you know what made me lose my memory?" I could've sworn Xana was shocked, even though I couldn't see him. He's only a voice in my head.

"Y-I mean n-I mean...I..." Xana stammers. Uh oh. He's hiding something from me. "What is it? You know?" I ask gently.

"No, don't ask me ever again."

"You do too know!" I protest.

The door opens and a bright light shines in my eyes. I wince, blinking rapidly, until my eyes adjust. "Aelita?" "Jeremie, I heard you yelling in your sleep. Anything wrong?"

"Xana knows something and won't tell me," I sulk. "No! I really don't!" Xana mumbles. Aelita gives me a scowl I know is really intended for Xana. "Spill it Xana, or I'll take a nail gun to your computer."

"All right! I confess, I do know what happened to Jeremie's memories..."

"Well...? Out with it!"

"Because _I destroyed them."_

"**YOU DESTROYED HIS MEMORIES?!!!!"** Aelita rages, then turns pink. "Shut up!" Xana hisses, as Aelita locks the door. "YOU did that?!!!!" she demands. "That was YOU?" I ask, not wanting to believe what he said was true.

That couldn't be.

He didn't do that.

...Did Xana do that?

"I knew you were evil!!!" Aelita yells, furious. "It WAS you!!! I only suspected, but even I believed you couldn't sink that low!!"

Aelita storms out of the door in a rage, slamming it shut after unlocking it.

"You...you did that?" I ask quietly, my face in my hands. "You did this to me? You caused me all this pain in my mind? You tried to turn me against my friends?! You made me for**get**?!!"

"I...I...I was wrong," Xana confesses.

"**LIES!**" I rage. "**YOU LIE!!** You just want to use me!! I'm just an instrument of your will!!! You killed me in my mind only for your own wants!!!! I hate you!!!" I cry, my fists clenched.

"You killed me...you killed me..."

Xana is silent.

I am so mad...I was used and I thought he really cared...But I am not wanted. I am only needed. And something inside says that it shouldn't be this way.

Finally, solace from only these words:

"I didn't really know what I was doing."  
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Ooh! Xana's been pegged! What's Jeremie gonna do, now that he knows what Xana did to him?

Preview from the next chapter:  
**Bitter...against all humans...  
****Bitter. I have only heard of this word once, but I know the tone well.  
****Xana.**


	14. Xana Breaks, pt 2

In a fit of anger, I go to sleep.

And I have another dream again. I'm flying slowly, over the clouds, into the atmosphere, crying hard, trying to go back down. But I can't.

I call out so many names...ones I can't hear in my dream. And then I know that in my dream, I'm dead, heading for judgment by...by...someone powerful, maybe. And everything is vivid enough for me to think this is real. But this is a dream.

Another dream after that. A strange one, blurred all together. It makes me feel pain, suffocating pain, like being locked in a cocoon. Being shut into a sunless land. Nobody but me for company. No Xana, even.

I've been wronged by someone I don't even know, someone who plucked me off the streets with promises of a better life. It's all a lie. I'm used in some terrible experiment that goes horribly wrong and leaves me bitter...

Bitter...against all humans...

Bitter. I have only heard of this word once, but I know the tone well.

Xana.

This is what happened to Xana. What made him so cruel. What made him delete my memories. What drove him to kill Ulrich. And none of us even tried to hurt him. I've been wronged.

And all of this makes me wake up in a cold sweat. Xana, in me, is still tossing and turning in his own night terror thing. I get up silently and eye the clock. 2:39 AM. Still a while before that sun comes up.

I pad across the carpeting of the hallway, upstairs. Headed to Aelita's room for absolutely no reason other than comfort. Atilea doesn't offer much in the way of comfort. (sigh)

A hot flash makes me drop to my knees in pain. Holding my hands over my head, I experience a vision, and I drift into a strange dream. Xana's dream, which seems...much too real.

A factory...the elevator...a weird blue-green room...a scanner-thing...a desert, forest, glacier, mountains...to a tower-like building...into the tower...to a data screen, which reads

XANA

CODE:

FUSION

STATUS: FAILED

WHY: MANIPULATION BY HOST

ABORT RETRY **EJECT**

And then the memory fades.

I get up, confused about the 'dream,' and softly knock on Aelita's door. No answer. I silently open the door (yes, I now know what a door is) and silently tiptoe over to her bed. But before I get there, a picture on Aelita's wall makes me stop.

I stare at it. The man was familiar, and yet...his face brings a terrible alarm bell to my thoughts, ringing mercilessly, warning 'Danger! Danger! Get the hell out of here!'

"Aelita...I had another dream."

Aelita sits up and yawns deeply. "What was it?" she asks sleepily. (I still don't get it.)

"I think it was Xana's recount of when...when he was...when he was a human," I whisper. "Right now, he's asleep, so we may want to keep our voices quiet."

"Xana...human? Jeremie, are you sure this isn't just some wacko dream you conjured up and then somehow made sense out of it?" Aelita asks, suspicious.

"Well, in the beginning of the dream, I felt...like I couldn't breathe. It felt like there was this stone in my chest, near my heart. Then I felt like someone had done something unforgivable against me, someone I didn't even know at first. I was used in some experiment that went wrong...and left me bitter...bitter against all..." I trail off.

Aelita stares at me, wide-eyed, her hands squeezing each other.

"All that was left in the dream after that was a feeling of regret."

"But...Xana can't feel emotion..."

"Aelita..." I point to the man who scared me. "Who is that?"

"That's my daddy...Franz Hopper."

"DON'T EVER MENTION THAT NAME TO ME, EVER AGAIN!!!" Xana snaps, suddenly wide awake. "That man...I can never forgive him for what he's done..." "What did he do?" Aelita demands, anger building in her eyes again.

"He...he made me who I am today. Evil. Franz Hopper mutilated me. I'm not human, not anymore. AND IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!!!!!" Xana rages, pent-up fury in his voice. My sight flickers once and begins to disappear, as I begin to lose myself in the madness of what is 'possession.'

A terrible shriek like iron against iron forces me to my knees. I glance down and note that my shadow is gone. Remembering that Xana possessed Aelita once through my shadow, I quickly assume: Xana left me.

"Urgh..." moans a voice in my head. No, he didn't leave. Xana passes out momentarily from sheer exhaustion, but my shadow is still gone.

Aelita also notices. "Your shadow isn't there anymore...that's weird. It means you aren't part of here...you don't reflect light? But then I wouldn't be able to see you, and I can. You aren't dead either, or else I'd be crying so loud nobody would get any rest."

"But then...what the...what just happened?" I demand, asking Xana directly.

"...Who am I? Who are you?"

Those familiar questions suddenly strike a nerve in my head. "STOP THIS CHARADE, YOU MORON!!! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL EVERYONE, WHY DON'T YOU JUST DO IT NOW?!!!!"

"...Jeremie, I would never do that!" cries Xana's voice, filled with pure shock. "I'm not evil! I'm not a murderer!" "Then explain Ulrich to me!" Aelita cries, fists clenched so taut her skin was turning white.

"That wasn't me!" Xana insists, voice failing. "I...am not evil. I am pure good. As for Zahnne..." "Zahnne?" Aelita and I repeat. "Yes. Zahnne. MY evil half. He's broken off. It all started when I began to have doubts about destroying your memory, and then I knew I was breaking away from Zahnne's control."

"So Jeremie's shadow was a reflection of your taintedness?" Aelita asks. I'm trying to follow the conversation, but it's hard.

"Yes, it was. But since I am pure, and Jeremie himself is cleansed, he does not have a shadow. Why do you think that when you first came to Earth, you didn't have a shadow?"

"Because I wasn't actually real...that was what we all figured."

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Wow. Xana split at last! But Zahnne's pure evil, and that's not satisfactory. Pure evil doesn't have remorse and what's worse, it doesn't care about its actions.

How is the Lyoko gang gonna stop the menace AND free pure Xana from Jeremie, not to mention Ulrich from Odd?

Preview:

**"So that's what it is." **

**The screen across from us flickers once, then flares white, with a black symbol in the background. I glance at my hand and recognize it as Xana's Sign. But this one was almost leering at us, and I could hear the cruel laughter. **

In the center, instead of a regular dot, there's an upside-down star.

**Zahnne was paying us a visit. **

**And I remember that nobody likes unexpected visitors.**


	15. Beware the High Emotions

Aelita gives me a fierce frown. "It's time, Jeremie. Time to re-introduce you to the thing called 'Lyoko.' Come with me, and please for our sake, keep quiet! Xana, you too."

Xana mentally sighs in my head. "Lyoko," he sighs quietly, as I exit Aelita's room and follow her downstairs to another room. She knocks and someone answers, rubbing their eyes. "Aelita?" Oh, it's Odd.

Aelita stares in shock. "Odd...mirror. Now." She pushes him into his room and flicks on the lights. "Argh!" Xana moans, as I rub my eyes, unable to see for a moment.

"AGH!!!" Odd screams. He'd seen his reflection: his hair wasn't quite as tall and was a tarnished gold, and the purple was beginning to disappear from his hair, not to mention that Odd was...kinda shorter.

"No time to start applying makeup," Aelita hisses. "We're gonna show Jeremie the factory now, ok?" The disgr...disgr...the horrified teen nods as I blink once more.

Suddenly I see Ulrich walking beside Odd, his footsteps falling into pace with Odd's own. Grinning treacherously, Ulrich walks into Odd, who chokes and drops to his knees, gasping for air.

"What-?!" Aelita gasps, kneeling down. Odd snorts. "I...I'm ok..." he mutters disbelievingly, before standing. "What about Yumi?" Xana asks.

"Yumi's asleep, let's leave her like that. Come on, follow me." Odd reaches into his pocket and takes out a small light beaconer, turning it on and letting a weak light guide us to the door.

We leave the building and head into what is called a forest, which doesn't look like the one I saw in Xana's dream, but I digress.

"Come," Aelita urges, as we enter a clearing. Odd bends down and picks up an iron covering, revealing a hole in the ground. Aelita climbs down. "Jeremie, you go down too," she calls up. I shut my eyes and leap down, landing with a crash onto a hard surface. "Ow."

This black-red stuff seeps out of a cut in my palm. I wince and rub it away, but more comes. "Aelita, help," I whimper. "Make this red stuff stop leaking from me."

She looks at my cut and makes a 'tsk' noise. "It's just a little blood is all." I think back to when the animal trap thing caught my leg. My blood wasn't dark back then like it is now. Unbuttoning the front of my night clothing, I gasp.

"What?!" cry Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Xana-all at the same time. The black spot that Split Xana repaired is still there, but it's moved...to the center of my chest. "It moved to your heart!" Ulrich's voice gasps. Aelita glares at me, actually piercing Xana with her gaze.

"I swear to you, I didn't do that! Remember I was tainted when that happened?!" Xana makes me walk to the water's edge and stick my hand in. As I draw my hand out of the water, it makes a strange hissing noise. Odd runs to my side, and the cut seals up with nothing more than a hint of black.

"Hmm..." Ulrich muses, putting a hand to Odd's chin and thinking hard, eyes narrowed in thought. "I've got it!" "Got what?" I ask, as Aelita nods. "Continue..."

"When Zombie me took part of Jeremie's soul, Xana must've permanently sealed up the hole, both in his soul AND in his body. In other words, Xana BECAME part of Jeremie. That means they share the same life, unless my zombie half removed the other part of his soul. That explains the black-red blood and the black spot on Jer's chest." (1)

Aelita nods. "It seems very logical, considering that these aren't normal circumstances." I don't get a lot of this, only that the black spots are Xana's effects and that he sealed my soul.

Walking along, to a ladder, then sliding down to an elevator. I place a hand on the steel wall, remembering the 'dream.' From out of nowhere, a strange phrase comes to mind:

_"Beware the one that offers too much, and the element hidden within. The emotions run too strong, and one shall betray their only friends. That one shall die and yet be mourned, but come back in a more humble state than before."(_2)

"Jeremie, what was that?" Odd demands, gazing at me with a look that describes confusion. "That was a weird voice." I hadn't known I was saying it out loud, but I guess I had. "I...it just suddenly came to my mind..."

I step inside the elevator with Odd on my right and Aelita on my left, and, unseen by anyone else, Atilea above me. "You think you get all the fun?" I give her a small, teasing smile, before the doors open.

_Ba-bump. _

"Huh?" Aelita mutters, before shaking her head. "Nevermind."

I gaze around the room, my eyes widening. "Wow! I saw this place before! In...some sort of...dream...I had!" Mentally I see Xana cringe. "Uh...sorry." I whisper. "Uh...it's ok, you didn't know..." he whispers back.

_Ba-bump, ba-bump. _

Aelita flinches, then presses a hand to her head. "I...must be tired. Anyway, Odd, Ulrich, Xana, let's tell the story of our past heroics, from all our views, ok?"

The stories take a long time to tell. Sometimes I get flashbacks as someone tells a story, then I hold my head and make a terrible face in my hands that nobody save Xana notices, but he's nice enough not to mention it. I guess he IS telling the truth about Zahnne...

"So...you're telling me that Lyoko is a virtual world...that's parallel to ours (whatever THAT means) and now we need to stop Zahnne from killing us?"

Everyone, including Ulrich's silhouette and Atilea's angelic form, nods.

"So that's what it is."

The screen across from us flickers once, then flares white, with a black symbol in the background. I glance at my hand and recognize it as Xana's Sign. However, this one was almost leering at us, and I could hear the cruel laughter.

In the center, instead of a regular dot, there's an upside-down star.

Zahnne was paying us a visit.

And I remember that nobody likes unexpected visitors.

"GO AWAY!!!" Xana booms, forcing my right hand to point at the big computer screen thing. Everyone, alive or not, turns to see the screen flicker once, and then the lights go out. Muffled thumps and a struggle is heard before our voices can break the silence.

"Is everyone here?!" Odd demands first.

"I'm here," Aelita whispers. I can now see her clearly in the darkness, but I seem...far away. Like I'm looking through someone else's eyes. Oh, Xana shifted to control, I suddenly remember what that's like and PANIC!

"I'm here," Xana forces me. "Oh, good, Xana's here, so Jeremie must be, too." "Yeah, I am," I mumble, before forced back into stationary control. (I don't know if that's the right word...)

The lights flicker back on.

_Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump..._3A hollow pulsation only told of in the Lyoko world, when a 'tower' is activated and Zahnne is awake...

"Guys," Xana clears my throat. "Zahnne is awake and working."

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1: Remember, this is sci-fi, and Ulrich's been bored, so why not study while you're at it, huh, Ulrich?  
Ulrich: Fuck you.

I also vary Jeremie's situation with Odd's. I often tarnish the person I love the most xDD

2: _"Beware the one that offers too much, and the element hidden within. The emotions run too strong, and one shall betray their only friends. That one shall die and yet be mourned, but come back in a more humble state than before."  
_This was inspired by the book 'Ghost Boy' where the main character is a boy with albinism. At one point, the 'Ghost Boy' whose name is Harold, is told, _"Beware the ones with unnatural charm, and the beast that feeds with its tail. A tall man's meek and a dark one's pale. And there comes a monstrous harm." _It's also a hint to the SEQUEL!  
3: This is the sound a tower makes when it's activated; a loud 'ba-bump,' much like a heart.

Wow, this was a hard chapter for me! XD Man.

Preview:

**I turn to the 'Warrior,' a fierce scowl on my face. "Aren't we warriors? Shouldn't we be risking life and limb to save...uh...Earth?!" "Uh..." Odd doesn't finish. I dart in front of him to see Zahnne's symbol on Odd's chest...remembering what it means...as I put two and two together, Xana and I shout: "ZAHNNE!" **

**A dreadfully calm voice that entwines with both Odd's and another unearthly voice speaks. "How very perceptive of you. However, you're rather slow on the draw, aren't you, Jeremie?" **


	16. Code LYOKX

"Let's go deactivate the tower," Aelita hisses. "Since I have to be the operator, we'll need to cut the tower's cables, aka isolation." "I remember that," Xana injects. "You tried that on me once but failed because of my polymorphic clone and Tarantulas."

I see Odd look at the ground.

Atilea taps my shoulder. "Wait, what about your clone, Aelita? She's right next to me." Odd and Aelita turn and stare. "Ah, she'll do. Atilea, Odd, Jeremie, go to the scanner room, one floor below."

I clamber down the ladder and see the scanners. Another scene from my dream, but this one frightens me for some reason.

"What is it?" Xana asks, seeming to stumble over his words like loose stones...I shake my head. "It's nothing, promise," I whisper, stepping into the scanning thingy.

"Here we go," calls Aelita's voice. "Transfer..." The scanning thingy hums to life, a metal ring sliding up and down, seemingly identifying me. "Scanner..." I'm floating now, and it seems so familiar...just like my first imprisonment...

"Virtualization!" A white flash of light engulfs me...sending me somewhere else.

_The feeling of falling apart, bit by bit  
__Traveling through a long copper tube with various colors  
__Being scanned very quickly once more  
__Hurriedly being put back together  
__Then free-falling..._

BAM. I hit the ground with one fist, my legs bent. The landscape seems...familiar. The glacier I had seen was there, but how? Did I have a real vision?

"Oh...my..." Atilea tugs at my back, and it's only then I look at myself.

White scales dot my skin, making me shiny. My hands have long claws. Looking into the ice, I see my face is bulged out and is sharpened to a point, my eyes evenly set on both sides of my nose, my glasses gone.  
Two black horns stick out of my head and a tail coils to the ground. Twisting to see my back, I see two turquoise-leather wings as well. What am I? I do note that I'm around my average height though...

A voice answers for me. "You are a dragon, Jeremie. That's what you wanted to be." I turn to see a red-and-spiky-haired male with blue eyes, clothed in black robes. My interest spikes as Odd gasps. "XANA?!" "That's your Lyoko form?!" Atilea sputters. (1)

Xana shakes his head. "My normal form is a wisp of black. I merely took on this form so you could identify me. I am simply projecting myself onto the environment. However, I can kick ass in this form! But when Jeremie goes back to Earth, so must I, for we are connected."

I finally look at Odd. He's a half-human, half-cat creature, with four fingers and claws sticking out of them, a purple tail and ears, and strange marks on his face. Decked out in what looks to be futuristic clothing, he looks pretty cool. His cat-ears twitch a couple of times.

Atilea is in an elfin form, two pointy ears emerging from her pink hair, a mark underneath both her eyes. She's wearing a split pink full-body jumpsuit, even though I don't know what that is, but I digress...(2)

An annoying humming noise snaps me out of my profiling and makes me look towards the sky. A strange wasp-like creature is there.  
"Frelions! (3)" Aelita calls, from somewhere distant. There's no time for me to muse, as fear bubbles in my throat. Suddenly, a bright red flickers out of my mouth and scorches the bug, melting its wings and making the creature topple to the ground.

Xana whips out an unique sword and stabs the writhing monster. The sword is a strange onyx color, with red at the tip and an engraving of his sign in the middle.

"There's sure to be more," Atilea mutters angrily. "You're right, Frelions move in packs of up to five." "Here it comes!" Odd yells, putting one paw on the other. Another Frelion thing flies up and lunges at Xana, firing a strange red laser.

"Xana, that's eighty life points left for you!" Aelita calls, this time from above. "Odd, look out! There's one behind you!"

"I know," Odd mumbles, turning and hollering 'Laser Arrow!' In a flash, the Frelion who tried to shoot at him is gone. "Wow, your weapon is Laser Arrow?" He shakes his head. "No, Jer. You say Lay-ZER. Make the 's' sound like a 'z', ok?"

"Ouch!" There's a stinging pain in my shoulder. I whirl about and shoot a stream of the burniness at my foe, scorching it to death. "Jeremie, 90 left." Another shot and Atilea cries out. "Oh my God! 60 for Atilea! Get out of there!"

"I'll distract them!" Xana booms. "It's the least I can do for making you suffer this kind of box-in in the past!"

Atilea points at the tower. "Let's go!" A red arc slams into her, making Atilea disappear herself. "Oh, no!" Aelita cries, shock clear in her voice. I turn to see Xana disappear as well, but Odd hesitates. Something about him just isn't right.

"Hey...J-Jeremie? I think we'd better...g-go..." Odd stammers, as two other Frelions fly up to us, studying us. "Jeremie, get to the tower! With Xana in you, you might be able to manipulate the interface and cancel out Zahnne's attack!" he spits.

That was it. I had a sneaking suspicion that Odd...wasn't really Odd.

Xana snorts. "Yes, I agree with your suspicion." Wow, Xana didn't disappear, he came back to my head. Cool. But, anyway...

A large grey ball rolls up to us. "Megatank!" Aelita cries. "Jeremie, get away! Now! You're our only hope!" "Odd, kill it!" Xana yells. Odd hesitates.

I turn to the 'Warrior,' a fierce scowl on my face. "Aren't we warriors? Shouldn't we be risking life and limb to save...uh...Earth?!" "Uh..." Odd doesn't finish. I dart in front of him to see Zahnne's symbol on Odd's chest...remembering what it means...as I put two and two together, Xana and I shout: "ZAHNNE!"

A dreadfully calm voice that entwines with both Odd's and another unearthly voice speaks. _"How very perceptive of you. However, you're rather slow on the draw, aren't you, Jeremie?"_ He makes a 'tsk' noise at me. One of the Frelions fires at me and I quickly kill it, throwing a ball of red at my adversary.

Aelita gasps. "Wh-what?!" "This isn't the real Odd!" Xana yells, using my voice again. "It's a polymorph, which means Odd and Ulrich are in trouble right now, possibly grave danger!" "SHIT!" yells Atilea's voice, which fades.

Another monster looms over us. "Wait, Jeremie. Don't fire. This one is with me," Xana hisses mentally in my head. "He'll hold off the Mecho, this Tarantula." Xana raises his voice. "Metro T-18! Permission given!" T-18 rears up on two legs and fires with his front ones. "It is a Tarantula, one of the two types of Metros that is on our side."

Throughout this whole time, I've been slowly backing away as Odd matches my speed, a smirk on his face, claws flexed. Ugh, it's part of Zahnne's method to scare his prey. Craft. (I hate craft.)

Xana glares angrily at Odd. "What have you done with the real Odd and Ulrich?! I know you aren't him, when you looked guiltily down at your shoes while I mentioned the POLYMORPH!" he spits, justified anger sparking in his voice.

Odd leers at us. _"You want to know where THEY are?"_ I nod firmly, something bubbling up from the darkest depths of my half of my soul. The Tarantula kills off the last Frelion and retreats.

"Jeremie, get to the tower, NOW!" Aelita yells, fury in her voice.

Trying to be obedient, I tear myself away, but my feet skid on the ice. "Fly!" Atilea calls. Discovering I can flap my wings, I take off, not even having to think about flapping because I'm simply doing something called 'coasting' along the surface.

Something stings my side and makes me fall. I slide across the ice, watching a furious fake-Odd run towards us, his face contorted into a purely evil expression. _"You'll never make it in time!" he sneers._

I stop a few feet away from the tower and wobble to my feet, running into the pillar of red. _"Odd'll be dead before you can save him from his little trip into the sewers!"_

"WHAT?!" Aelita screams, as I slowly ripple through the tower and walk towards the center by instinct.

Something pulls me upwards and takes me to the second floor, one I had seen before. I place my hand on the interface in front of me.

XANA  
CODE:

Xana grunts. "Not Code Xana (4)...Code Lyoko...Code Lyoko..."

CODE:  
It stays blank for a few seconds, but the letters finally begin to come.

CODE: LYOK-  
Suddenly the letters stop. It wasn't programmed to do _that_. Something tells me that's not supposed to happen. Ever.

"Wait, huh?" I mumble, pressing my hand to the screen again. The wording adds a different letter.  
CODE: LYOKX  
I make a face. The dumb program made a spelling error, I bet.

The programs around us turn the deep black-red that I'd observed in my blood and drop to the bottom of the tower. "Return to the past, now!" Aelita calls. "Aelita, WAIT!" Xana screams, before a white light consumes us.

* * *

You must hate me for these cliffies.

1: _I turn to see a red-and-spiky-haired male with blue-green eyes, clothed in black robes. My interest spikes as Odd gasps. "XANA?!" "That's your Lyoko form?!" Atilea sputters.  
_Auugh...when I made Xana's human-like form, I didn't know someone else already looked like him...think of **Axel** from Kingdom Hearts.  
2: _Atilea is in an elfin form, two pointy ears emerging from her pink hair, a mark underneath both her eyes. She's wearing a split pink full-body jumpsuit, even though I don't know what that is, but I digress...  
_Atilea's Lyoko form is shared with Aelita's. Since Atilea is Aelita's dead clone, she should probably have the same form on Lyoko.  
3: Frelions are the gigantic alien-like Lyoko wasps which are called 'Wasps' and sometimes 'Hornets' but I think their French name, 'Frelion' is a lot more catchy.  
4: 'Code Xana' is what deletes a sector. Xana is programmed to key in just that, and changing it to 'Code Lyoko' is making Xana override his original instructions.

Preview:

**What I saw was what would become of my friend.  
****And I have to say that I didn't like what I saw. **

**A flicker of flame is all that remains as I come out of my trance, the white fog lifting. I see Aelita's face come into focus.  
**"**Odd, are you ok?!"  
****And the first thing I say is "Aelita, you're a little too close..."**


	17. Unnatural Consequences

_Odd's POV  
_I'm drifting across white space, what seems like being on the edge of forever...nobody is there for me...  
I can't see where I am presently, I can only see the future while I am here. I only know this because...I don't know. I guess I just do know.

What comes to mind:

Zombie Ulrich's rise  
Jer coming back to Kadic  
The factory  
Zahnne  
A newspaper  
Zahnne confronting Jer  
Flames surrounding Jer  
Us restraining him  
Me aiming at Jeremie  
Aelita on Lyoko  
Jer watching Ulrich and Yumi take Aelita away  
Ulrich being possessed  
Jeremie sifting through his memories  
Jeremie in a Lyoko dungeon  
Aelita taking his place

...Everything zeroes out after that. I can tell there are some events that I just can't see.

The final image I get is Jeremie, eyes blazing with anger, fists and teeth clenched. He looks no different than the Evil Polymorph me.

What I saw was what would become of my friend.  
And I have to say that I didn't like what I saw.  
A flicker of flame is all that remains as I come out of my trance, the white fog lifting. I see Aelita's face come into focus.

"Odd, are you ok?!"  
And the first thing I say is "Aelita, you're a little too close..."

"Odd!" Aelita scoffs, setting me on my feet. I rub my eyes and look around-I'm back in Aelita's room. "Where is Jeremie?"  
"I don't know," she whispers, fear in her eyes.

"Hi guys." Jeremie opens the door. "Cool, we went back in time." "...Jeremie!" I cry, slugging his shoulder. "You worried us!" "Ow..." Jeremie rubs his shoulder. "Why did you do that?" "It's a way of saying 'you idiot' in a friendly way."

"You're ok. Oh, thank God you're ok." Aelita pulls Jer tight, wrapping her arms around him. I snicker into my hand, Ulrich laughing so hard he's in danger of hiccups. Jeremie's face is red, which only adds to my laughter.

"Hold on. You need to tell her what you saw," Ulrich advises me mentally, after calming down. "Aelita, can I speak with you?" She nods. "Sure." Finally letting go of Jeremie, we sit on the bed as I begin to recount my tale.

_Jeremie's POV  
_In the middle of his story, I note that Odd shared the same thing as me. Discerning the guilty emotion I had heard Xana speak of, me and him slip out of Aelita's room and walk the halls.

"Xana, do you know what happened there?" I ask quietly. "Any idea about what went wrong with the interface thing?" "No. I have no idea." Xana sounds dejected. "I wish I kne-"

"A-ha! Jeremie, what are you doing out at this hour?" The gym teacher-called Jim-looms over me, shining a bright beacon into my face. I wince, peering at my so-called 'enemy on campus' (whatever THAT means.) "Um...huh?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes. "Oh...uh...I don't know."

"Jeremie. I'm not stupid. I know you don't sleepwalk."

Xana makes a mental grin at me. "Wanna have a little fun with this oaf?" "Huh? Uh, sure..." I whisper. Xana snatches at the flashlight with my right hand and shines it up at my face, then makes me grin evilly.  
I snap off the light and grope forward, catching the man's shirt. With a loud shriek of fright, he's off, feet pounding down the hall. Xana and I laugh, although I don't know what's so funny. "I lent you my symbol. When you shone the light, my sign appeared in your eyes and on your forehead."

"Heehee, Xana, you're mean," I snicker. "Yeah, I know!" Xana retorts, with a heavy amount of irony in his voice. A sharp pain ripples through my shoulder and I drop to my knees, wailing in pain and turning at the same time.

Aelita: Oo;  
Odd: T-T (1)

Sticking out of my left shoulder is a needle, the plunger depressed. "What...was that?!" I squeak out, as Odd slowly takes out the needle in my skin. "We gave you a Lyoko serum, the one you made for us." (2) "We returned the favor." Aelita smiles.

"Xana, you're slyer than a fox, but you don't think about the long run!" Ulrich scolds. "We saw what you did, and lighting Jeremie's face up like a jack-o-lantern could get us in trouble later. Jim could tell the PRINCIPAL! Jer could get detention!"

"Don't worry." Xana smirks mischievously. "Anyway, let's go back to bed. I can tell all of you are tired."

Everyone nods.  
"Come on, Jeremie. Let's go."

_Aelita's POV  
_I still wonder whether we're doing the right thing. If Odd's dream is accurate. If it is, what then? How do we stop Jeremie from being eaten alive by his emotions? He's already extremely sensitive to his surroundings, and if anything bad happens...

I try not to think about the consequences. "Just get back to bed...don't worry, Aelita..." I mumble, walking into my bedroom and glancing at my daddy's photo.

* * *

"_DON'T EVER MENTION THAT NAME TO ME, EVER AGAIN! That man...I can never forgive him for what he's done..."_

"_What did he do?"_

"_He...he made me who I am today. Evil. Franz Hopper mutilated me. I'm not human, not anymore. AND IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!!!"_

_"STOP THIS CHARADE, YOU MORON!!! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL EVERYONE, WHY NOT JUST DO IT NOW?!!!"_

* * *

The next thought comes to me and makes an intense shudder vibrate through my body. Exactly who was Jeremie talking about in killing everyone? He could have been talking to himself...No. I shake my head. He's the sweetest kid I've known. He would give his life for me, even now, even though he doesn't know about our past relationship. I know he wouldn't do that... Right?

My cell phone rings and I pick it up. I've got a message.

_RE: Aelita  
__I know where Zombie Ulrich is and what he wants  
__I won't tell you unless you do me a favor  
__Kill Xana  
__Then I will help you_

_ZAHNNE_

My phone clatters to the ground, snapping shut.

Kill Xana?  
Even if I WAS to do that, how would I?!  
I pick up my phone again to see another message.

_RE: RE: Aelita_

_To kill Xana, kill Jeremie  
__Or Zombie Ulrich comes soon_

I send a message of my own back.

_RE: RE: RE: Aelita_

_What connection do you have with Zombie Ulrich?  
__Why do you want Xana dead? You don't have anything to gain from that.  
__And why are you even OFFERING help to us?!_

The response comes almost immediately.

_Re: Murder  
__Why, you ask?  
__I have special reasons  
__That is all_

_ZAHNNE OFF_

I lie down on my bed and try to sort this out.

* * *

1: (T.T) and (Oo;) are facefaults, the exaggerated emotions you usually see in anime. 

2: The serum thing will fall into place later. (It's also in my spoiler.)

Preview: "**NO!" we scream, sitting up in bed. Jeremie is panting hard, frantic, his heart racing. It beats faster and faster, until...**

**Jer falls flat onto his bed and scarcely can breathe, a shot of pain ripping through his chest, neck, and shoulders. He breaks out in a cold sweat as the room begins to whirl about. His lungs wheeze once and suddenly fail.**


	18. Stopping the Flow

_Xana's POV  
_It's been a long time since I messed with Jeremie's memories. They are not gone-just shoved into a very dark corner of his mind...one that rarely shows, but may begin to dominate later...one that I fear may become loose.

I shouldn't discuss this with my host. He'll snap even earlier, with the added pressure to be good. I shouldn't burden him with the future. I know Odd knows. And I'm going to speak with him.

Jeremie is asleep, in his-our room. Good. He'll think he's dreaming. I silently loosen the seal that separates him and me, as the black on his chest reaches his entire body, allowing me to use it. I cannot use him for bad things...

I force Jeremie out of bed, silently trodding the halls, to Odd's room. A stab of guilt makes me double over mentally, as I remember that I killed Ulrich. He knows that Zahnne was responsible, but still is suspicious of me.

Odd is sitting on his bed, staring off into space. I wave a hand in front of him. "Odd, I must speak with you," I say, using Jeremie's voice. "Huh? Wha? Oh, uh, hi Jeremie." Odd's voice is also distant, as is the expression on his face. A small flit of terror runs across.

"Odd. I know what you saw. I saw it too." I sit down on his bed. "I _know_. It hurts, though, feeling useless. Not being able to change the future. I saw what I'll become, and I don't want to."

"Yeah. It does hurt. I just wish I could DO something. I don't want you to die...I don't want to fight you. You're one of my friends!" Odd's voice cracks. "I can't let you become...become what I saw. Oh dear God above, I hate having Foresight!"

"I'm so sorry..."

"I hate it! I HATE IT! I WISH I NEVER HEARD OF LYOKO SOMETIMES, WITH ALL THE PAIN IT'S BROUGHT US!!!!"

I silently look at the floor, clenching and unclenching my fists.

A terrible anger finds its way to Odd. "Do you know whose fault this is? **Do you?!** It's Xana's! I DON'T _CARE_ IF HE COULDN'T CONTROL HIMSELF! THERE COMES A TIME WHERE _EVERYONE_ MUST MOVE ON!!! I KNOW HE CAN HEAR ME!!!!

"SO HE WAS USED, BIG FUCKING **DEAL**. GET OVER IT, XANA!!! PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES-THEY'RE ONLY HUMAN, **FOR GOD'S SAKES!!!!!"**

"Odd," I whisper quietly, using my own voice, "I've been talking to you this whole time." Black, salty tears, thick with innocence and stress and depression, drip onto the bedspread. I'm trying hard not to let my emotions show, for fear of mixing Jeremie up.

Odd's tone immediately changes to that of forgiveness and sorrow. "I-I'm s-sorry...I-I just...I'm just-" He's trying to get out of trouble, how selfish. Humans make me worry.

"Say no more...I need to go." The anger...the kind I had seen in Zahnne...it makes me nervous, very much. I worry still, plodding out of the room, Jer's hands in his pockets, shoved deep.

I head back to the boy's dorm and lie down, letting Jeremie take back control, only to fall into a nightmare as soon as I give in to the human sleep.

* * *

"_Jeremie, come join me. I will help you get back on your feet. You'll never be mocked again, never mistreated again. Now...come to me! I promise you, you will get revenge."_

A boy around nine years of age, his features suggesting that of Jeremie, slowly walks to a man wearing a black robe, his red eyes glaring at the world outside the deep black hood enveloping his face. On the chest area...is Zahnne's sign.

I am in the body of Jeremie Belpois still. In fact, I have **become **Jeremie. I cannot sense his spirit, his conscious, in this body. I am the only one here.

Aelita...she is on her knees, screaming, begging for Jeremie not to go...but the atrophy of Team Lyoko is beginning.

Aelita cannot fight against the one she once loved, the one she still loves. Her heart is shattered and she cannot pick up the pieces on her own.

Jeremie. Is. Giving. In. To. Zahnne.

* * *

Ulrich's katana is pointed at Jeremie's throat, a pure white flame enveloping his body, shuddering gasps the only sound we can hear...

"_You left us for nine years. You came back and caused us a lot of grief, more than Zahnne ever did. You tried to kill Aelita, and you tried to kill us."_

Jeremie gives him a defiant smirk.

"_You were always alone, Jeremie. And it will stay like that-forever!"_

Ulrich delivers the final blow while sealed in darkness, three black orbs hovering behind him, twin tendrils dragging on the ground...Ulrich plunges his blade deeper, until the flame disappears...

"_You will always...__**be alone."**_

"**NO!" **we scream, sitting up in bed. Jeremie is panting hard, frantic, his heart racing. It beats faster and faster, until...

Jer falls flat onto his bed and scarcely can breathe, a shot of pain ripping through his chest, neck, and shoulders. He breaks out in a cold sweat as the room begins to whirl about. His lungs wheeze once and suddenly fail. (1)

"HELP!" I scream. "Jeremie's stopped breathing! I mean, I've stopped breathing!"

* * *

1: Jeremie has just had a heart attack. Yes, he is going to live through this. Yes, an ambulance will come get him and his friends will be excused from class. No, Xana cannot heal him automatically.

Preview:

**Something was gonna happen. I don't know whether it's good or bad. Running out of my hopsical room, I turn and rest for a moment, my heart quivering in random patterns. A shadow falls over me, but when I hear the voice, it's too late.**

"**Hello, **_**Jeremie**_**." The voice is sickeningly familiar. I turn to see Zombie Ulrich again, his claws resting on my shoulders. I freeze up.**

"**RUN!" Xana's voice springs me back to life, as I flee down the corridor.**


	19. The End, pt One

_Yumi's POV  
_Last night poor Jeremie went back to the hospital. He's been taking some hard knocks, but this is getting out of hand. I mean it.

"Hey, are you feeling any better?" I ask, walking into the room. Jeremie is asleep, but the eye of Xana on his right hand (the doctors think it's just a kiddy tattoo) is blood-red. "His heart isn't going as fast as normal, but I believe it's because of sleep."

"Yeah...it is." Aelita looks up from her research papers. She'd been on the internet all night, searching for something that not even Jeremie/Xana knew...I don't know either, so don't ask me.

"Goddamn, Aelita. Your eyes are **red**." "I was crying," she answers quietly. Xana heaves a gusty sigh, grey as pewter but not anywhere as common. "I cannot apologize enough...I can't...I just can't."

"Where's Odd?" I ask. Aelita shrugs. "I don't know. He wasn't here this morning, believe it or not." Xana fidgets with Jeremie's hands. "He yelled at me last night. And made me cry."

"Odd made you cry?" Aelita looks up in shock. "He made you cry?" I echo. Xana nods slowly. "Yeah. I don't know where he is, though."

"Hi guys." Odd (and Ulrich) trudge into the room. "Any progress, Xana?" Ulrich asks lightly. "Nothing. He's still comatose. Promise I'll let him speak with you as soon as he-oh! Here we go! I got something!"

The Red Eye slowly fades to black as Jeremie falls back against his pillow and the heart monitor zeros out. Suddenly his eyes flutter open as the monitor starts up again. A doctor runs in. "You're ok?" he pants.

"He's ok." Aelita gives the doctor a thumbs-up. "Came out of his coma just now." We share a group grin as the doctor scratches his head. "Strange. I'd better get back to reception." He dashes off as Jeremie rubs his head. "Guys, what is this place?"

"It's a hospital. Xana can fill you in later. You had a heart attack."

"What attacked my heart?"

"Nothing. Your heart didn't pump your blood like it's supposed to, that's all. But you're ok!" Aelita wraps her arms around him and squeezes. Jeremie's face turns pink as she lets him go.

"I...I'm gonna get something to drink, my mouth feels all dry." Jeremie gets up and leaves the room.

"Aelita, that was so cute!" I exclaim.

_Jeremie's POV  
_I slowly troll the halls, feeling, in a way, worried. I don't know why. I'm ok. The others even said so. The doctor left my room. I've got to be ok.

I don't know what a heart attack is still, but I'm afraid that if I stay out of bed too long, I might have another one.

"Jeremie, you worry too much. You were stressed a lot back then, too, but..." I grab a paper cup and pour myself some water from a cooler-thing.

Something was gonna happen. I don't know whether it's good or bad. I turn and rest for a moment, my heart quivering in random patterns. I tip the edge of the paper to my mouth and sip. A shadow falls over me, but when I hear the voice, it's too late.

"Hello, _Jeremie_." The voice is sickeningly familiar. I turn to see Zombie Ulrich again, his claws resting on my shoulders. I freeze up.

"RUN!" Xana's voice springs me back to life, as I flee down the corridor.

"GUYS! ZOMBIE ULRICH IS BACK!" I scream, throwing me against the doors, which don't open. I glance at something on the wall with numbers and two sticks, which point at the numbers 10 and 11. Something in the thing says PM. I don't know what it's for, but I rip it off the wall. (2)

Zombie Ulrich rounds the corner as I toss the thing like a Frisbee. Whacking him in the stomach, I dash by, Xana lending me some extra strength.

_"RRRRAGHH! I'M GOING TO GET YOU THIS TIME, JEREMIE!"_

"Why are you after me?! Why is EVERYONE after me?!!!" I scream, turning around. And something weird happens. Something big and bright and red shoots out of my hand. Xana gasps and I hear something about 'access to his deep well of anger.'

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I WANT TO BE LEFT IN PEACE!!! WHY ARE YOU TORTURING US?!!!"

Zombie Ulrich glares at me, his white eyes narrowing. "Humans," he spits angrily. "Such useless creatures, infesting and overusing this planet, not caring what their actions do to anyone or anything. I was born out of hatred, rage, and despair against you humans."

Ulrich glowers at his Zombie half, now a couple steps behind me. Yumi halts a couple inches from me, but Aelita is nowhere to be seen.

Zombie continues, baring his teeth. "I'm going to have to get rid of the five powerful psyches for this planet to begin falling apart at the seams. And you're harboring number one-you're hosting Xana. I'm going to get him, and you can't stop me!"

The anger feeling surges up from within me again, and the red and orange hot stuff surrounds me, flickering and dancing, yet I can see through it. It doesn't burn. I think that's what it's supposed to do.

"You can't touch me. One step inside this bubble of fire, and you'll be incinerated," Xana mocks. He sounds very sure that this will work. And I hope along with him.

Zombie Ulrich smirks. "But you can't hurt the ones you call friends. And guess who I've gotten?"

"No..." I mutter, eyes widening. "You didn't! Leave her out of this!"

"Too late!" Zombie cackles insanely. Aelita appears from the shadows and slowly walks over to me, her eyes blank, skin the same color as his own.

"Jeremie, focus. Focus your hate at Aelita, unbelievable as it may seem. Don't look at her within...only look at the thing controlling her!" Xana commands. I don't understand, but he wants me to aim at Aelita. And I do so.

Xana pushes the hate feeling, he pushes it out of my hands, aiming at her feet. My fire shield disappears. And ice freezes Aelita in her tracks.

"_**HUUUMMMAANN!!!"**_ Zombie Ulrich screams, his voice more demonic than human. The real Ulrich, followed by Yumi, both leap in front of me, but Zombie shoves both of them aside and plunges a hand into my chest.

I slowly am pulled from my body, pulled free from myself, from Xana, even. As soon as I slip out of my body, Zombie Ulrich grins. "I've got you...Now all I have to do is kill your body."

"You won't!! Though I could leave this body, I WILL KEEP MY FORMER HOST ALIVE!!" Xana roars, using my voice. He grabs the collar of my shirt. A tug-of-war ensues, the prize being my soul.

Oh joy.

* * *

1: Jeremie's talking about a clock, the time at that point is 11:50. Jeremie was out the entire day.

**Ohhh boy. **Tug-of-war with Jeremie's incorporeal form. No fun for Jeremie. Or Xana.

Preview:

**Ulrich gives a white packet to Xana, who releases his grip on me. As Zombie pulls me to him, water splashes on us. **_**Salt water. **_**I grab Odd's hand to avoid facing my captors, and something amazing happens at that instant.**

**Slowly, very slowly, I pull another hand from Odd's body, but it doesn't resist at all. Finally, the face of a surprised ghostly Ulrich appears.**


	20. The End, pt Two

"You can't have him!" Xana yells, tugging harder on the collar of my shirt. Aelita frees herself and joins Zombie Ulrich's side, getting a firm grip on my hand and pulling.

"Let me go!" I scream, writhing. "Let me go!" Nobody listens to me, instead both sides locking their grip tighter. Odd and Yumi both grab Xana and help him pull, but Zombie Ulrich has incredible strength. It keeps all three of them-struggling against him-busy.

Many doctors congregate near us, too stunned to move. Many are frozen with fear. Patients peer out of their rooms and scream, some of them join the doctors. One of them glances at me with a scowl on his face.

It's Zahnne, here to watch me suffer. Here to watch all of us. And he thinks it's all a waste of time, now that he's here.

Note to self: Stay away from this hospital in the future.

Ulrich gives a white packet to Xana, who releases his grip on me. As Zombie pulls me to him, water splashes on us. _Salt water. _I grab Odd's hand to avoid facing my captors, and something amazing happens at that instant.

Slowly, very slowly, I pull another hand from Odd's body, but it doesn't resist at all. Finally, the face of a surprised ghostly Ulrich appears, as I yank him out. Someone else tugs on my leg, hastening the operation.

"Aelita!" The water missed her completely due to Xana being distracted by some of the doctors yelling in fear and scattering. Zahnne had also thrown a bucket, a steel girder, a cup (full of the red stuff in all of us), and a couple of sharp pointy things at us; to make us distracted. Zombie Ulrich bares his teeth, also tugging on my leg.

I know what I need to do. Jumping back inside my body, I take over Xana (at last!) and run up to Aelita and her 'master.' "Forgive me, girl," I mutter, taking my own cup of water. Ulrich tosses me another packet. I rip into it and pour the salt into the water.

Salty water splashes on both of them as Aelita prepares to bite me. She spits out the water and makes a face. "Yuck! Salt water!" she complains, as Zombie Ulrich shrieks in pain, rubbing his eyes.

"Ulrich! Do it!" Yumi cries, as the brown-haired boy darts toward his body and enters, taking control. Another spirit is cast out, glaring angrily at us as it slips into the floor.

"It's great to have my body back!" Ulrich cries, feeling himself all over. "Yeah! I'm not scrawny anymore!" Slowly, his eyes turn back to their normal color, and his skin gains a more peach color. Ulrich's teeth aren't so pointed, and in general, he looks human again.

"I'm not scrawny, for the last time! I'm svelte!" Odd complains. "And I'm glad to see that your features don't blend with mine anymore!" It's true-each is their own separate person.

Something ejects me from my own body. I gasp and look up into Atilea's face, which is darkened with sadness. "Jeremie, you spent too long outside a body. It's time for you to leave." "But I don't even remember all of my past!" I cry, dripping water on the floor.

Yumi turns around and uses a strange power to force back all the doctors and the patients, scowling angrily. "This isn't any of your business!" she yells, her voice cracking from strain.

"You're going to Heaven, Jeremie." Atilea chokes on her own words. "If you found a dead body, you could take it over, but then that spirit-the one that was controlling Ulrich's body-he will come back. He will come for you."

So, this was it: two choices. One: I take over someone else's body, but risk letting the ghost from Ulrich's body come back. Or two: I go to Heaven and let my soul sit there, waiting for Aelita in 'eternity.'

"I know what I must do."

Atilea disappears as I rub my eyes and stop crying. "I have something to say to all of you."

Parts of me begin to disappear.

"Aelita. I'm really glad I got to know you...again. I wish things didn't end like this. I wish things could've been different. I'm glad...to say that we met." I stumble over the words, fading fast. My feet were already gone.

"What are you saying?" Aelita chokes on her words, her hands clasping each other until they turn white at the tips.

I give her a sad smile. "I'm saying goodbye." I then turn to the group. "I'm saying goodbye to all of you. Even to Xana."

"You can't go!" Yumi gasps. "You can't!"

"That spirit we saw...won't stop until I disappear. He won't stop endangering your lives until I'm gone. And it's a fair trade, one life only, for the price of maybe even five. That includes Xana. It's fair."

"Fair?!" Odd yells. "We just got you back, and you're leaving us again, this time for good! Why are you leaving?!"

"For you. I can't just think of myself." I give Yumi a hug, shake Odd and Ulrich's hands, soothe the teary Xana, and finally return to Aelita's side, everything up to my chest gone.

And for my final moments in this world, I embrace the girl I first met in the woods, back when I thought she was scary, when I thought she would kill me, and here I am now, giving myself for her.

"I love you...you know that, right?" Aelita murmurs.

"I do. I'll see you in what Xana calls 'eternity.'"

My chest disappears, my throat, my mouth, and finally, all of me disappears, as I sink into blackness.

* * *

I am floating. I don't know where I am, but this place...I cannot describe it. It's beautiful but terrifying, saddening, traumatizing, and it stimulates something in my brain.

And suddenly, I know who I am.

I am Jeremie K. Belpois, from Paris, France.

I am an experienced hacker.  
My friends are Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita.  
I was the one who discovered Lyoko, the one who turned Xana on.  
I was the first one to 'befriend' both Aelita and Ulrich.  
I cannot imagine life without my friends.  
I am a programmer.  
I try to lead as normal as a life as possible, with Lyoko's secrets in the back of my mind.  
Xana was my enemy from the start. Zahnne is my enemy now.

I loved Aelita the moment I saw her. I still love her, even more now. And I miss her, I feel so empty right now without her.

And then I notice which direction I'm going.  
Down. Back to Earth. Reincarnation. And judging by the fact that I just received my memories, I'm guessing that I will keep them, for good.

Atilea appears, holding a bunch of papers in her hands. "I was able to send you back, Jeremie! I got you another shot at life!" She grins. "Your name'll be Jake, since you'll be a boy. You'll be taking the place of the eight-year-old, who is about to die."

Atilea winks at me before vanishing, leaving me to ponder.

I head back to Earth, down...down...down...until everything is black. I open my eyes and glance around, in some sort of cot, hooked up to an IV. The first words I hear make me sigh with relief (well, almost.)

"Ma'am, your son is responding to treatment!"

* * *

END OF ROUND ONE


End file.
